


The chasing game

by spymaster



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: A lot of deaths, Assassination, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Character Death, F/F, Killing, Killing Eve AU, Murder, Obsession, Please Don't Hate Me, Suspense, Toxic Relationship, Violence, just don't do what they do, not a good example for relationships either, not good for children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-16 02:40:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14802803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spymaster/pseuds/spymaster
Summary: The Killing Eve AU(I finished Killing Eve season 1 and I got heavily inspired by the series)I do not own the plot, the characters or the situations they're in.





	1. Empty letter

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: a lot of character deaths, based on the real spirit of the show Killing Eve.
> 
> I also borrow many details from the show so if you haven't watched it yet, you probably should skip this fic.
> 
> It's a combination of Killing Eve and Silence of the lambs, sort of.

You are so obsessed with finding someone to love you because you can’t love yourself.

 

(Picturequote.com)

 

☆☆☆

  
  


_(9 years ago, a village outside Shaka, Krypton…)_

 

_She panted in pain, in fear and anger. The cut on her shoulder burned under the rain, cleaving more from her flesh and wrapping her in the stream of blood. The body was still warm because the last breath hadn’t even left its nose._

 

_The mouth hung agape and the eyes were becoming empty. The knife punctured through the neck kept them from falling down on the ground and separated the hair in half. She slowly stood up, gritting her teeth to fight the physical pain that was gripping to her. Wiping off the blood spilling from her cut lips, she walked to the body and stared down at the permanent open eyes gawking up at the sky._

 

_The sound of boots approached her but she didn’t turn around. She knew this sound and was familiar with it._

 

_“Well done, Zor-el,” she heard, keeping her stance still, “a bit slower than expected but it’s fine, everyone treasures their first kill.”_

 

_She let her eyes wandered longingly at the exposure of the body’s neck, remembering how warm it had been. “I don’t treasure this,” she said, pulling her eyes back to the dead’s windows of the soul. A blue and a green eyes. Magnificent._

 

_“That’s even better,” said the deep voice from her trainer, “you wouldn’t need time to get used to it.” She raised her hands, about to close the dead’s eyes but she was stopped. “You don’t have to do that. Not anymore. From now on, you need to see them die. Your face is the last thing they see. Face it, face your doing and move on.”_

 

_So Kara retreated her hand and stared into the abyss inside those different color eyes. “What will I do next?”_

 

_“Eager, aren’t you? I knew it. You are one of those with true talents and the right mind for it.” A regretful sigh bounced by her ear. “Too bad Zahava here wasn’t up to the task. But she put up quite a fight, didn’t she?”_

 

_The sound of the name made her frown, but only for a moment._

 

_“You haven’t answered me. What will I do next?”_

 

_“A lot of killing. But first, you should have another name. What do you think about Kara?”_

 

_“Good. Sounds nice. Kara Zor-el.”_

 

_“No, just Kara. And forget about Zor-el.”_

 

_“Why?”_

 

_“You’re the new you now. You will have a new life and people would be grateful for what you do for them.”_

 

_She looked up, her eyes fluttered against the raindrops. “Really?”_

 

_“Absolutely.”_

  


___

  
  


(The present day.)

 

Kara pouted with an attitude of boredom as she waited for the moment to strike. Choking someone was easy but this one was still struggling and she found it boring seeking his last stare at her.

 

“You’re too slow,” she muttered, rolling her eyes at the dying man in front of her. The strings of his hoodie had been tied and stuck behind his car window and Kara was rolling it up, squeezing around the erratic pumping veins inside the chubby neck.

 

His hands were crawling at the choke, trying to fight it off but it was no use. Kara had calculated very carefully, as always, and there was no way someone would be able to get out of the grip from their own clothing. She gazed at the decoration on the hoodie, letting out a sigh at how ugly it was. She knew her job was to kill him, but if it was on her to find a reason, them the ugly hoodie must be it.

 

Eventually, life left his eyes. Kara smiled a bit when she caught the moment. Time always seemed to slow down a little whenever someone died. Not that Kara really paid too much attention, but it was just so beautiful to witness the most important event of a stranger’s life. Death, just like life, was given to everyone, and it should be special. A death of old age was boring, so she was glad she didn’t have to see that kind of way to go.

 

Leaving the world on a deathbed, where your final moment was already expected? Please. Kara was a gift to them, to excite their boring life, to hand them a story to tell their other dead friends.

 

 _‘Why did you die?’ ‘Staying on my bed.’_ That sounded boring.

 

 _‘Why did you die?’ ‘Falling into a spike.’_ That sounded poetic.

 

A life would be more meaningful, knowing there was someone out there trying to take it away from you. Kara made their lives more precious, their moments more treasured and of course, she took proud of it. Who wouldn’t?

 

Taking lives was an easy task, Kara loved the chase better. It was almost like sex. The foreplay was intriguing and more exciting than the actual fucking. Kara never took pleasure from being penetrated by a dick, a tongue, fingers or a dildo. She came, of course, but only thanked to the foreplay.

 

The most important part of her job was the foreplay, and she paid a lot of attention to that, making it perfect until the final moment. Kara nailed it every time.

 

Like Jimmy Boggo here, for example. He got up and jogged. If he did it every day and suddenly had a heart attack, which was waiting for him due to those McDonald’s midnight snacks, then his story would be like any other people with disgusting eating habits.

 

But now, he could proudly claim that his life was something, and it cost him a good price to have an awesome death of being strangled at 6:12 in the morning by the strings of his own hoodie. It was more intriguing this way. Who wanted him dead? Why now? Why hoodie strings? Jimmy Boggo would walk into the afterlife with a smug face of someone whose life was so significant that it had to be ended soon.

 

Kara fixed his hair a bit so whoever would find him wouldn’t feel offended by his ugly haircut if they weren’t too bothered by the hideous hoodie. Then she walked away.

 

Another job done well.

  
  


___

  
  
  


Lena felt the warm hands sliding from her back, up to her ribs and rested on her breasts. She smiled at the gesture and slapped the naughty fingers that were squeezing her enthusiastically and they pulled away.

 

“Ouch!” Jack whined pretentiously in her ear, nipping her earlobe when she scolded him. “Good morning, baby.”

 

“Good morning,” she turned around and glared at him, “I have the period, you know.”

 

“I do. But that doesn’t mean I can’t touch you, right?” Jack bargained with a pout.

 

“Baby, I would agree with you if I’m not overslept,” Lena glanced at the clock and cursed, “Fuck, I’m right. Get up, get up, get up!”

 

It took her an hour later to get to work and Alex greeted her right in front of the elevator.

 

“Sleep well?” Lena heard the taunt in her friend’s voice.

 

“Too well. That’s why I’m fucking late if you still can’t see that.” She checked the watch and cursed again. “I’m not going to make it to the meeting. J’onn is _so_ going to kill me.”

 

Alex rolled her eyes and sipped the coffee from her cup. “I’m sure they wouldn’t notice you not being there.”

 

“That’s the point!” Lena shrieked in frustration as the elevator doors opened. “I need them to remember I’m not there. Who the fuck would put the meeting room on the 5th floor?”

 

Alex snickered and followed Lena into the car. “You know, just because your dad was a homicide detective, that doesn’t mean you have to be one. I mean, you were _great_ at the desk. I wouldn’t be able to sort out those crime scene shots angle by angle without you, Lena.”

 

“Stop kissing my ass,” Lena scolded.

 

Alex’s gaze lowered down on Lena. “That time of the month again or you’re just being your normal asshole self?”

 

“You’ll never know,” she answered with a smirk.

  
  


___

  
  
  


“I’ve got a job for you.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Corben.” Kara delivered a happy grin at the middleman, whose job was to tell her the next target and give her the reward. “Did you brush your teeth today?”

 

“A woman, mid-forties, tough access.” Corben put the picture on the table, completely ignored Kara’s question. Kara hummed at the image of the woman with perfect shoulder length wavy hair. “Cat Grant.”

 

She pulled her eyes away, acting not interested. “Answer me first.”

 

She heard Corben sigh before speaking, “Of course, I did. I do it every day.”

 

“Showered?”

 

“Twice. Happy?”

 

Kara now grinned again. “Yes. So, Cat Grant.”

 

“National City.” Corben fished out the train tickets. “Your hideout and fees are in there. Use it wisely.”

 

Kara took the ticket and eyed the money. “A lot. Do I have to torture her?”

 

Corben sneered. “Just do your job quickly. This woman isn’t an easy target.”

 

The statement made Kara frown, slightly, then she asked, “Does she know karate?”

 

“No.”

 

“Have a gun?”

 

“No.”

 

“Bodyguard?”

 

“One.”

 

“Then that’s an easy target.”

 

“I don’t care. That’s what I was told.” Corben stood up and walked to the door.

 

“Have you eaten breakfast?” she asked after but the answer was only the gentle slam of the door.

 

It was always like that. Corben never stayed long enough for her to get another answer out of him. Kara shrugged and answered for herself. “Yes, I have. Yes, I would love to have breakfast with you.”

  
  


___

  
  
  


Lena winced when she looked into the pictures of the crime scene. One of the terrible things that she noticed during her time as a homicide detective assistant that she had to stare at the blood and gore and deciphered the signs, the traces left behind.

 

Another thing was, it would get even worse if you recognize the victim.

 

“Cat Grant?” she spluttered, “She’s dead!”

 

“That’s what the autopsy said too. Excellent observation, Miss Luthor,” mocked her boss - Siobhan Smythe - with a smirk. Lena could feel the blood rushing to her face when everyone else in the meeting room was laughing at her. “Alright, anyone else has a more specific notion? Besides Miss Grant’s obvious fatal accident?”

 

No one seemed to have any other idea. Siobhan shrugged and stood up to leave the meeting room.

 

Lena realized it was her chance to fix the dumb slip-up earlier. Raising a hand, she spoke, “She was killed. This isn’t an accident.”

 

Siobhan arched an eyebrow at her. “How do you know?”

 

Lena pointed at a picture, her fingertip landed on Cat’s hand. “Her nails. They’re too clean.”

 

Her boss huffed with a smirk. “So? Cat Grant was the Queen of Media, of course, she had a clean manicure.”

 

Lena pulled out her phone and picked the news of CatCo, showing it to Siobhan. “Last week, CatCo had a column about stylish nails. This hand - “ she pressed her finger on the picture again, “ - these hands don’t look like they belonged to the Queen of Media who was promoting the galaxy theme nail painting. Too clean!” She let the air set for a pause and continued, “The person who killed her did something to the nails.”

 

The collective stare from everyone had Lena gulping. Then her boss asked, “What did this killer, if there was one, do to the nails and why?”

 

“I-I…” Lena hated it when she started stuttering due to nervousness, “...don’t know.”

 

“So you have no firm evidence or even a theory about it,” Siobhan glared down at her coldly.

 

“It’s a h-hunch,” Lena heard the throbbing pumps of her heart getting louder and louder and the sweats wetting her palms.

 

Her boss gave her an indifferent look before it changed into pitiful. “It’s an accident, Luthor.”

 

Lena nodded, though she knew it was not an accident. Something seemed not right out of this. Cat Grant, the Queen of Media, who had just received the title of the Most Powerful Women in National City, decided to get drunk and fell down the stairs? It reeked the smell of a murder.

 

She checked the pictures of the scene again and couldn’t help but feel more and more confident about her _hunch_ , no matter how the conclusion had pointed at the other way.

 

Lena brought the case back to her desk and flipped over the scrapbook of the cases that Lena thought to be a murder, but the conclusion had always been an accident due to everyone else. This would be case #21. She stuck the pictures in, preparing to write something down under it when her superior came.

 

“That’s a good observation, Lena.” J’onn placed down a cup of coffee next to the scrapbook. Lena scrambled to push it away from him so he would have a wide spot to freely put anything else down. “I appreciate you stating your opinions, no matter how odd they are.”

 

A faint blush crept on her face but Lena covered it by sipping the coffee. The steamy liquid warmed up her throat and filled in her empty stomach. “Thanks, J’onn. I think that’s my talent: stating the non-facts.”

 

J’onn laughed, the sound was deep and warm. He reminded Lena so much of her own father. Lionel - Lena’s dad - and J’onn had been partners for years before Lionel died during a mission of rescuing hostages. His death had saved over a hundred children from a poor village, and J’onn always told Lena about how brave her father had been. It made her proud but also worried that she could never live up to such reputations.

 

“I don’t think they’re non-facts. They are your observations, your hunches. Sometimes, a detective relies on their hunches to stay alive.” J’onn patted her shoulder and left the desk. “You have sharp eyes, keep working on them.”

 

The encouragement from J’onn really improved Lena’s mood. She began to flip the scrapbook from the beginning just to follow her own track of mind from the beginning. All of the cases seemed like accidents, but to Lena, there was something that felt so off, like everything was too perfect, like a staged set up.

 

If Lena was right, and there was actually a killer out there who murdered people with skillful tactics and precise calculations, then the chills running down her spines were only the beginning.

 

“We have a witness,” J’onn said as he walked by her desk later. The information made Lena whip her head up. She grabbed her jacket and ran after him.

 

“A witness, sir?” she asked, pressing the button to close the elevator doors. “Who is it?”

 

J’onn checked his watch with a frown, “Miss Grant’s secretary. She was found unconscious on the floor. She was also the one who called the cops.”

 

The car gradually lowered down to the ground floor. The beat of the machine matched with the pulse in Lena’s heart. “She could have seen it happened.”

 

J’onn didn’t comment anything during the ride to the hospital. They both were forced to wait for a bit before letting into the room where Cat’s secretary was in.

 

Lena lingered at the door for a moment before stepping into the room. It was large and there were two nurses, a doctor standing around, measuring the witness’ vitals. There were two police officers outside with their big guns and all.

 

“What happened to her?” Lena muttered and J’onn heard it so the next thing was his answer.

 

“Her name is Eve Teschmacher. She was found on the CatCo’s balcony with a broken flower pot on her head.”

 

“And several broken ribs, many scratches,” added the doctor. “It was a horrible brawl.”

 

“Yes,” Lena said and everyone stared at her. “A flower pot cannot do that much damage.” She pointed at Eve’s neck. “Those scratches tell you that she was strangled by someone.”

 

“Yes. By Cat Grant,” J’onn said, turning to her, “It’s not an accident anymore, Lena. The autopsy report came to my desk earlier but I wasn’t there so Winn took some pictures. He showed her his phone. “They found Eve’s hair on Cat’s clothes. And in Eve’s nails, there is Cat’s skin. Eve Teschmacher is no longer a witness. She’s a suspect.”

 

Lena frowned. The uneasy feeling crept into her chest again. It was too convenient that Cat’s death was deemed as an accident at first, then when a witness appeared, she was quickly cleared as a suspect. Something smelled fishy. Not that Lena didn’t appreciate the fact that she had been right about this case, it only made her question more about the strangeness of the case. A hair could be easily planted on the body.

 

They returned to the station two hours later because Eve had no signs of waking up any time soon. Lena and J’onn went over the pictures of the scene again.

 

“What’s the prediction?” Lena asked J’onn after the check. She had been noticing Eve’s hands. She was a small woman with blonde hair, similar to Cat. If they had been fighting, they both had a fair chance. Yet, she still needed to know what J’onn thought of this.

 

“Eve had a beef with Cat, waited for Cat to be alone, drugged the guard and fought with Cat to push her down the stairs next to the balcony. During the brawl, Cat managed to pull the pile of unused desks to collapse down on Eve.” J’onn stated while his eyes bored at Eve with a frown. “What about yours?”

 

“M-Mine?” Lena pulled her eyes away from the pictures. Receiving a confirming nod, she said, “Well, I don’t think there were only them on the balcony then.”

 

“How come?”

 

Lena pointed at the woman’s neck. “The choking is weird. Cat and Eve both have slim and small figures. If I was against somebody with my own size, I wouldn’t go for choking. And if I do, I would have to use all of my strength.” She raised her hands as if she was wrapping her fingers around Eve’s neck. “The bruises look like both hands, but they position as if Eve was strangled on top of her - see the thumbs. There’s no way she could push Cat off the balcony. Also, if Cat was the one to pull those desks down-” Lena pointed at the picture with Eve’s neck once again, “-then how there were two hands on this neck?”

 

“Cat used her leg, perhaps?” J’onn countered with an amused look.

 

Lena pushed a few pictures aside and picked up the one with the bloody desk on it. “This desk is really heavy. If Cat actually pulled it onto Eve, and she was strangling on top of Eve, she was risking herself too.” She stood up with confidence. “Cat was a very smart woman, she wouldn’t do such things, no matter how desperate she was. As I said, both of them had the chance to strangle the other. But-” she raised a finger and dragged it on the desk, straight at Cat’s clinic record. “Cat broke her left arm last year.” She pressed the tip of her finger down, conveniently pulling out the x-ray result. The transparent ivory record indicated that Cat had a badly broken bone. “It was severe. A person with an arm like this wouldn’t be able to strangle anyone but the marks on Eve’s neck were pretty wide. Someone else with better arms had done this, framed Eve and sent her into unconsciousness at the same time so she wouldn’t be able to tell.”

 

J’onn hid half of his face behind the link of his hand. Slowly, he leaned back on the chair with a smirk. “Very good, Lena. I will tell Smythe about this and try to get Miss Teschmacher off the suspect list.”

 

Lena grinned happily. “Really? And then we can search for the real killer?”

 

“Yes,” J’onn said with a nod.

  


___

  
  


“The girl didn’t die, Kara.”

 

She was only half-awake when Corben delivered the news. Kara was shoving the breakfast bread into her mouth when she heard it so she raised a hand to stop him, swallowed the food and flipped her hand so he would continue.

 

“The witness didn’t die,” Corben slammed his hand on the table, “Stop being so reckless.”

 

Kara pouted at him, “Are you worried about me?”

 

Corben only glared at her and sighed, “They won’t be happy if Cat’s death turns out to be a murder and the cops start sniffing on it.”

 

Kara slouched on the chair, propping her face on a palm. “But it _is_ a murder,” she grinned.

 

“I don’t have time to play with you,” Corben pulled out a piece of paper from the back of his jacket vest and placed it on the table. “Eliminate the witness, and make it quick.” He crouched down a bit, pointing a finger at her. “And no witness this time, get it?”

 

Kara shrugged and reached for the paper but a knife was plunged on the table, right between her index and middle finger. Corben held the handle of the knife, glaring at her. He repeated the question. “Get it?”

 

She casually answered, hiding the boredom inside a yawn, “Yes.”

  


___

  
  


“Do you want some coffee, babe?”

 

Lena heard Jack’s question, but she didn’t pay attention to it at first so he had to ask again a few times before she answered. “Y-Yeah. Bring me some.”

 

Jack walked through the frame with a steamy cup of coffee and a gentle smile. “What are you working on so intensely?”

 

Lena picked out a picture of the case #8 from the scrapbook to hold up at Jack and her boyfriend made a yikes face. “Yep, good stuff.”

 

“Jesus Christ, Lena. How do you still eat spaghetti after seeing that?” Jack looked like he wanted to throw up.

 

Lena took another look at the picture and slid it into the book like any other cases. “I don’t see them as dead people. They’re more like… a letter. The dead left a letter. The murderer left the signature. I just need to decipher it.”

 

Jack shivered and grinned. “Look at you. Talking about real life gore like talking about a poem. I’m honestly creeped out by you sometimes.”

 

She chuckled and took a sip from the cup. “I’m finally right at something. Tomorrow, my boss would have to open an official investigation on Cat Grant’s death.”

 

“She doesn’t want to do that?” Jack asked, leaning against the edge of the desk.

 

“Smythe is quick to call everything as an accident,” Lena rolled her eyes, “I think she believes anything is an accident.” Another sip. “Including me being a detective assistant.”

 

Jack let out an ‘aw’ and crouched down to kiss her forehead. “Now you have a chance to prove she’s wrong. I’m going to bed now. Don’t stay up too late, okay?”

 

“Okay.” They kissed again before Jack left the room.

 

Sitting on her own, Lena sighed loudly as her fingers roamed across the pictures. Then her eyes fell down at the description of case #9. The victim was Maxwell “Max” Lord, killed by being strangled during sex with his mistress. Or so the report said.

 

Lena had taken a lot of interests in this case because the mistress was high during the sex, therefore it was easy to assume that their bed game went wrong. Yet, Lena noticed that the string that had killed Maxwell had cut his skin too deep, almost like he had been strangled from behind. Even his mistress claimed that she didn’t mean to do anything he didn’t like, and he liked to be dominated. Max had to be on the bed while he was being choked.

 

But it wasn’t the reason Lena once again paid attention to this case, the death of the mistress was almost too convenient, right before she had a talk to the cops when she was completely sober. She hung herself after writing a suicide note. The writing was claimed to be hers so the case stopped there.

 

It gave Lena a very bad feeling. What if Eve met the same fate as Max’s mistress?

 

She didn’t think much when she fled the house, bringing only a coat. Lena called J’onn but he didn’t pick up. She drove to the hospital and parked sloppily on the empty lot. There were a few cars but Lena thought they belonged to the employees. Or the killer, if they were here to finish their job.

 

When Lena reached the floor with Eve’s room, one of the nurses from before saw and greeted her. Lena asked to see Eve. Her heart nearly busted when she saw Eve lying peacefully on the bed. The worries were eased down a bit as she realized nothing had happened.

 

Her mouth went dry and she slowly felt the void she craved for every time she got nervous. She wanted to smoke, despite having given up smoking for two years.

 

“Where can I smoke?” she asked a nurse and he pointed Lena to a door.

 

“There, ma’am. That’s the balcony.”

 

Lena combed fingers through her hair, letting the dark locks fall around her face. With everything happening, perhaps she had been too paranoid? Perhaps she had spent too much time thinking about movie-like murder plots instead of a more realistic side. There were two huge police officers guarding with their big guns and nurses walking constantly along the hall. No one without a proper access would be able to get on this floor.

 

She pushed the door and sighed when she was once again met with the cold air of the night.

 

Lena rested her elbow on the handle and shoved one hand into her pocket, where her stack of gums was and pulled it out.

 

“Smoking?”

 

The voice startled Lena, she almost dropped the gums. Gripping her chest, she turned to the left and found a young doctor standing with both hands in the pocket of her blouse. Her eyes were round and big, friendly but strangely staring at her.

 

“God, you scared me,” Lena chuckled and held up the gums, “No, I’m just… I’m going to chew some gums.”

 

“You can chew in there,” said the doctor with a smile, “why do you have to do it here?”

 

“I quit smoking years ago,” Lena unwrapped a piece of gum, leaning her back against the balcony, “it’s just a habit to have something to do with my teeth.”

 

The doctor’s eyes widened and then said, “I want to quit too.”

 

Lena offered a piece of gum. “Take it. It will help.”

 

“Why do you give me this?” asked the stranger, though she took a step closer to Lena, hands still in the pockets.

 

“Chewing gum helps if you want to stop smoking,” Lena answered and huffed, “you didn’t mean smoking, did you?”

 

The doctor smiled and shook her head, the blond ponytail whipped left and right, brushing her shoulders. “But can I take it? The gum.”

 

“Sure!” Lena stretched her hand so the gum would be closer to the girl. “Can I ask what you’re trying to quit?”

 

“Something bad,” the doctor grinned as she pulled out her left hand to receive the gum, “just like smoking.”

 

Lena chewed on the sweetness, smiling. “Well, you will do it eventually.” Her eyes observed the doctor as she unwrapped the gum and curled it into her mouth and silently complimented her features. She was a beautiful girl and Lena liked the innocence in her smile. She seemed like the girl-next-door type of person. Sweet, friendly and approachable.

 

The blonde’s eyes closed in appreciation and she hummed, “Strawberry flavor.”

 

“Do you like it?” Lena handed her the whole pack, “Take all.”

 

Blue eyes opened and stared once again strangely at Lena. “You’re very generous.” Her pink lips curved up.

 

The simple compliment combo with the bright smile made Lena blush. “It’s nothing. Considered it as a lucky gift for you on your quitting. Whatever it is.”

 

“Thank you,” said the doctor, taking the pack and put it in her pocket. Then she checked her watch and pointed her index finger at the door. “I have to go.”

 

“Oh, please,” Lena stepped aside to give the doctor a wider path back because the balcony was very narrow.

 

The blonde turned her body to a side and walked past Lena in a very close distance. Her big blue eyes became brighter under the hazy light of the hospital. They bored straight at Lena’s as if searching for something.

 

“Blue and green,” said the doctor before closing the door.

 

The knowing smirk she had burned hotly on Lena’s cheeks. Lena sighed out a soft chuckled. Not many people were able to tell that her eyes had two different colors, it wasn’t easy to see in a normal light. Jack could only notice that after a year of dating, after he took a picture of Lena’s face close-up under the bright sunlight.

 

This doctor saw it immediately after looking at her face for a moment and under this horrible quality light.

 

Lena didn’t know what to make out of this.

 

But it was quickly discarded as soon as she returned inside after about five minutes so she could find a trash bin for the used wrapping paper and she felt like there was something creeping up on her spines. Everything was so quiet.

 

Too quiet. Almost in a deadly way of silence.

 

There wasn’t even a sound of people walking except Lena.

 

She called out for the nurses but no one answered her.

 

“Hello?” she asked again as she took the turn at the end of the hall to get to Eve’s room. “He- Oh my God!”

 

The cry left her mouth when she found the police officers lying on the ground, a pool of blood was forming underneath them. The sick scent of the crimson liquid began to shove into her nose. Lena’s head turned to the room and horrifyingly gawked at the nurses lying on the floor as well, blood on their bodies.

 

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Fuck! Fuck!”

 

The fear gripped her chest as she rushed to Eve, whose hands were trying to reach out to Lena. “Eve! Eve!” she ran over to the bed and saw that her neck had been slashed opened, blood oozing out in streams, dying the mattress in red.

 

Freaked out, Lena frantically used her hands to cover the blood. Eve’s eye found Lena’s in utter shock, her hands gripped on Lena’s clothes as her lips gasped for air but also showing efforts that she was trying to say something.

 

“What is it? Who was it? Please, Eve, anything,” Lena shouted, hoping she would get something out of Eve.

 

The poor woman wasn’t able to speak anymore, she raised her hands and bend them, one inward, one outward, poking the fingers at the wrist constantly. Her blue eyes were screaming something.

 

“What? Hands? Stabbing? Cutting wrists? What do you mean?”

 

Eventually, the movements became slower and Eve Teschmacher died on Lena’s hands. Her eyes, even in the final moment, still trying to tell Lena something that might identify the killer.

 

Her teeth gritted painfully as she realized that the cryptic hand movement was also Eve’s letter to her.

 

An empty letter.


	2. Contradictions and false fantasies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter pushes the plot only a little, mostly about character study :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything. Lena and Kara are both based on my understanding of Eve & Villanelle, and Clarice & Hannibal through the series, the movie, and the books (I haven't read Killing Eve the book yet, though)
> 
> Enjoy!

Lena was still shaking when she sat in the meeting room, her hands were still red in blood. Eve’s blood. The only witness’ blood.

 

Her white jacket was hanging on the chair next to her, the gagging smell of the blood on the jacket still punched at her nostrils and the sticky feeling on her hand from the not-yet-clean blood made her sick. She felt sick.

 

Lena had gagged for about five times after J’onn and the team. She had seen a lot of gory pictures of crime scenes; they could be chopped off limbs, sometimes decapitated bodies. When she actually touched the dead, had her hands soaked in the oozing blood of a dying person and became the first one to arrive at the crime scene, everything changed in her.

 

Lena used to think about the murders in an objective way, it helped her setting aside the initial reactions and personal judgments, clearing the path for her eyes and mind to work better. She wanted to become a machine when it came to getting engaged in a case, that way would be more useful

 

Lena hadn’t been pursuing to be a homicide detective because she had the irresistible urge to solve crimes, to bring out justice. She wanted to do it because she was good at it. Her father sometimes brought home the pictures - not too gory ones - from the crime scenes and asked her opinions on them. He had told her that she had a unique and objective way to look at things, unbiased, therefore she could be an excellent investigator.

 

It didn’t occur so to her until her father’s death. The moment that she stared at his lifeless body in the funeral with dried tears on her face and the only thing she could think of wasn’t wanting him back, but learning exactly how he had died. Lena knew better than sharing that thought because it was inappropriate. Or so she had been taught.

 

Lena was repressing down another urge to gag when Siobhan, J’onn, and another person walked into the room. Lena hurriedly wiped her mouth and looked up at them. J’onn placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly as he sat down on the chair next to her. Siobhan and the stranger sat on the other side of the table, putting a file they brought with them on the surface. This man had a nearly bald head with white beard hugging his chin, a stern look on his face.

 

“How are you feeling, Lena?” asked J’onn with concern. Lena frowned, gripping her both hands together to stop them from shaking.

 

“I-I’m fine,” she answered, knowing that saying it out loud could fool her nerves into believing it.

 

“Officer Luthor, this is Captain Joe Beckett, from National Homicidal Crimes,” Siobhan introduced, her face was firm and serious, unlike her casual attitude from every other day. “He will take over the Cat Grant case, along with the multiple homicides.”

 

Lena felt the tickle inside her nostrils and sniffed sharply to stop it from drooling out childishly. “What I know, I already told Detective Olsen.”

 

“I know,” Capt. Beckett said, the voice was low and intimidating. “I’m not here to ask you about the murders in the hospital.” The mention of that horrible event still choked her throat and Lena had another urge to gag but she held herself back. “I want to ask: why were you there?”

 

She gave him a ludicrous look. “I’m working on the case, of course, I was there.”

 

Captain Beckett only narrowed his eyes at her. “You’d come to the hospital just twelve minutes before the homicide happened, and when it did, you were not at the scene. Luck, or coincident?”

 

Her heart began to race. If she wasn’t hearing things wrong, then this guy just blatantly aimed to put her in the suspect zone. She had just witnessed six dead bodies of the people who had been smiling and talking to her a few hours ago, and now this jerk dared to say she might be responsible for that?

 

Lena gritted her teeth, “What are you trying to imply, Captain Beckett?”

 

The older man gave her an obvious look, “I’m not implying anything. I’m asking you how were you the only survival of the brutal attack when you have absolutely no reason to be there at that hour.”

 

“Captain,” J’onn spoke from Lena’s left, “I received a call from Officer Luthor before she even reached the hospital. She wanted to inform me but I was sleeping so I didn’t pick it up. It’s my fault for not being able to give her the aid she needs.”

 

“Even so,” Joe leaned against the backrest, knitting his fingers together in a calm manner, “That still doesn’t explain why Officer Luthor would be there at 11:18 p.m, right before the murders happened. I fail to have an explanation, Officer Luthor.”

 

Lena grunted inside her throat and imagined if she could just punch Beckett across the face. “My only explanation is the same as what I stated in the report: I was worried that the witness might be in danger.” Her hands clenched, the shaking from before escalated burningly in her flesh.

 

“How did you know-” Capt. Beckett questioned with an arched eyebrow, “-that the witness turned out to be truly in danger? Again, luck or coincidence?”

 

Lena glared at him, “I had a hunch.”

 

A soft scoff escaped Siobhan’s mouth, adding more to the annoyance Lena already had. Lieut. Beckett looked at her over his shoulder, “Is there something funny, Lieutenant?” Lena’s boss immediately shut her snicker. He faced Lena again and sighed, “Listen, Officer Luthor, I appreciate your cooperation in the case and your quick reaction after finding the scene. What I said earlier, might appear to be rude to you, but this is what I do. I have to calculate every possibility. I’m saying you were lucky, _extremely_ lucky. And I believe you did have a hunch.”

 

The anger in Lena was soothed a bit, she managed to spread a quick trusting smile. “Thank you, Captain.”

 

“However, you cannot be in the case any longer, Officer.”

 

Lena stood up from her chair. “What? Are you fucking kidding me? No, you can’t!”

 

The Captain’s eyes widened in shock. Lena heard Siobhan’s gasp and J’onn moving uneasily in his chair. “As the matter of fact, I absolutely can. Sit down, Officer,” he ordered but she refused to obey.

 

“I’m on the case, whether you want it or not!” She gritted her teeth. “I was the last person the witness talked to, damn it!”

 

J’onn pushed her shoulder down. “What she wanted to say is she’s very enthusiastic and qualified to be on the case. The fact that she had a correct hunch about the next step of the event only proves that, Captain.”

 

“Detective J’onzz, I appreciate your words, but I have my own judgment,” calmly said Captain Beckett, not affected by what J’onn had just said. “Frankly, I’m afraid your judgment might be the influenced one, Detective. I know you used to work with Detective Luthor. Bias is unavoidable, considering your time as partners.”

 

The room got quiet, the tension nearly choked her. The suspense she had felt when she returned to the hospital was scary but now was thicker. Lena couldn’t help but think that she had just pulled J’onn down with her and it could endanger his place in the case. She needed to fix her mistake.

 

“Captain Beckett, I apologize,” Lena stood up and gave him a slight bow, “I have behaved irrationally and disrespectfully to you. I would want you to reconsider your decision of taking me out of the case.”

 

Joe Beckett’s lips thinned, contemplating thoughtfully. Lena held her breath, feeling like her change of attitude had swayed the Captain a bit. The frown on his eyebrows relaxed slightly, no more the hostile stare.

 

“Very well, Officer,” Captain Beckett pushed the file toward her, “I supposed you inherited some of your father’s manners. Lionel was always a hot-headed one.” A small smile spread on his lips, then vanished. “That’s the only thing that stops me from firing you, Officer Luthor. You had a hunch, a good one, and you didn’t prioritize informing the department, charging into the scene and six people - including the lone witness - lost their lives.”

 

“But-” she argued and Beckett abruptly stood up, slamming his hands on the table, glaring at her.

 

“You didn’t kill them but your recklessness has led to their exposure to danger! You were the only one with the most detective skills and you didn’t act like one.” He pointed at the file. “Because of you, I have to take over the case from now on. In my team, there is no mistake. You are a mistake. Officer Lena Luthor, you are suspended!”

 

Her jaw dropped slightly, she gawked at him, seeping in the humiliation of being suspended just because she had a hunch. The decision had been made, she knew it was fixed and there was nothing she could say to change it.

 

Lena did the only thing she could. “The decision has come through, Sir.”

  
  


___

  
  
  


Kara yawned when she put on the T-shirt. The pants were right next to her, but she decided to leave her legs bare. It was a hot day, especially after the quick work yesterday.

 

The morning shower was refreshing enough for her to be fully awake but her mind was still buzzed a bit. Kara lazily prepared her breakfast while listening to the radio. A nice song was on. Kara didn’t normally listen to country music, especially after a job, but not in every job she got to meet a pair of haunting eyes like the ones belonging to the woman in the hospital.

 

There was a first for everything, Kara supposed.

 

She hadn’t seen a person with a green and a blue eyes like this forever, and this one truly had them, not like the phony ones she sometimes met in the clubs. The colors were not too easy to recognize but when Kara walked by her, she immediately noticed the differences. She believed her chest had made a thud.

 

It was more than just an impression. Kara believed it was something like destiny, or even fate to suddenly have a woman with two different eye colors to appear in front of her right before she did her job.

 

And the woman was kind and generous. The strawberry flavored gum really helped Kara relax while doing the job. It just happened to be one of her favorite flavors, so she didn’t mind much of the little extra blood everyone on that floor shed. Some of that got on the borrowed blouse so she ditched it, without a hair falling back. Every ounce of muscles in her body circled back to the woman on the way back to the hideout.

 

Kara wanted to know her name, her job, the reason for her presence, her favorite food, her favorite song, basically everything. The bad thing was that she had no clue how to start. She wouldn’t ask, because asking was lazy.

 

She should seek information on her own, and that was a big zero.

 

Letting out a groan as she yawned again, Kara sat down and started eating the breakfast.

 

During the meal, Corben rudely interrupted her, though.

 

He walked into the apartment, stomping his feet with attitude, something he must have taken somewhere because Kara never walked like that. Everything about him was rushed and he acted like the building was always on fire. If it actually was, maybe Kara had done it, but she didn’t, so she couldn’t see the fuss.

 

“You didn’t do what I said,” Corben grunted but not being too impolite, “I told you to make it a suicide.”

 

“Good morning to you too,” Kara cheekily answered while chewing on the tomato piece, “Did you brush your teeth today?” Always start a day with a greeting.

 

Corben sat down on the other side of the table and wiped his face. “Kara, Kara, Kara, stop fucking around.” Kata loved it when he used ‘fuck’ instead of another word because she always had the chance to do some wordplay.

 

“I’m not fucking around,” Kara swallowed the piece and gestured the made bed, “Do you see anyone there? I haven’t fucked for weeks.” That was the truth. Kara was an honest person.

 

“I mean the recklessness,” Corben glared, swatting the breadcrumbs aside to put a thick envelope on the surface. “They’re not happy.”

 

“You said no witnesses. There _is_ no witness.”

 

Corben sent her a look. “What is happening to you? You’ve never been this careless.”

 

Kara heard, but she had no idea what Corben was trying to say, so she just shrugged.

 

“What is it? What is the problem, hmm?” Corben crouched forward to look at her. “What do you need?”

 

Kara thought about the woman in the hospital and wanted to ask, but retreated at the last moment because Kara didn’t want anyone to find her first. Only Kara should do that. “Nothing,” she said obviously.

 

Corben didn’t look convinced but eventually pushed the envelope to her. “That’s yours.” His voice was unfriendly, as usual, but today was more tired.

 

Kara held the stare with him. “Have you taken a shower?”

 

Corben rolled his eyes and left the apartment without any further word. Leaving alone again, Kara continued eating. She didn’t even touch the envelope until later that day when she wanted to go out and shopping.

 

Kara wanted to buy more of those strawberry flavored gums.

  
  


___

  
  
  


The pressure on her back woke her up, poking right on the ache inside her spines. Lena groaned deeply in her throat when she rolled on the bed and found her boyfriend looking down at her, in his work clothes, an understanding smile on his lips.

 

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” he asked, taking off his jacket.

 

Lena snuggled her fists against her eyes to clear the vision. Her eyeballs felt so sore and her entire body was rigged stiff. “Why are you still here? You’ll be late for work.”

 

Jack chuckled slightly, “I’m back from work. You’ve slept the entire day, Lena.”

 

She frowned, pushing herself up from the mattress languidly just to fall again on her back. “Really?” she muttered, placing an arm on her eyes, “Let me sleep to death.”

 

Her boyfriend’s warm laughter only deepened the fact that Lena was still pretty much alive. She dreaded the thought of getting up and actually doing something productive because all of her energy had gone to the black hole ever since she received the suspension call from the job. She wasn’t fired, but she wouldn’t get paid and basically a lot of free time to do absolutely nothing.

 

Money wasn’t a big deal, Lena had savings, but the humiliation she felt could not be soothed by anything, not even good food or money. Lena just wanted to have her hands on the murder cases, the blood and the gore - visually - again. It was so ironic how she had been so scared when she was in the hospital alone with blood on her hands, surrounded by the dead like a zombie movie. Now she was already missing the job, and the previous experience, though scary, it made her go through a stage of being driven by adrenaline. Lena felt half-scared, half-risky when she contemplated running after the killer by herself. It was dumb, indeed, but even now, she didn’t think it was a bad choice either.

 

She was also driven by the truth, the mysteries behind the gruesome act. There were so many questions hovering over her head during the wait at the hospital, the station and the meeting room. Lena had had a lot of time on her own to think.

 

Who did it?

 

Why did they do it?

 

Would they do it again?

 

She left the bed eventually to brush her teeth and had dinner with Jack. He tried to stay up with her but got too tired and went to bed early again. Most of their nights occurred like that: having dinner together, cleaning up and then Jack went to bed early, Lena would join him later. It had become a routine she was used to and sometimes it got a bit too tedious but she didn’t think about changing. Jack was fine with it, everyone was fine with it so Lena was fine with it, too.

 

Lena had been sleeping for the entire day, so she couldn’t sleep any longer. She was now lying on the couch, the TV was on a random channel. She planned to watch herself to sleep but it was a tough task. Lena was so well-rest, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to sleep before the sun rose.

 

There was a crime series being played on the screen. Lena didn’t like watching these types of shows because of their sometimes unrealistic portrayal of the investigators, but it was fiction, so Lena didn’t bother much at the moment.

 

Her head kept swimming back to the last motion Eve did. Lena raised her hands and copied the act. Eve had seen very spooked, she was definitely trying to tell Lena something. Lena had already described it in the report and it ended up sounding pretty stupid and irrelevant. James Olsen had given her a concerned look before asking _are you good for this? We can take a break_ and of course, she had refused because she needed to have everything she knew written down before she began to forget important things.

 

Now, sitting alone in the dark, with only the light from the television and the tainted red color of the blood on the screen, Lena was reminded of how lonely she had been while pressing around Eve’s neck to save her, though that wouldn’t do much. The hopelessness gripped her own neck like she was the one to have her throat cut. Her fingers plunged deep into the pool of blood, so deep that Lena thought she might have stupidly sent Eve quicker to her unavoidable death.

 

If Lena couldn’t figure out this mystery, she had owed Eve Teschmacher a death.

 

The tip of her nails bit sharply into the wrist of the other hand, reminding her that she had been doing this act for a few minutes. Grunting out of frustration, she threw her hands up in the air and let them fall freely on the couch. The groaning from the actor on the screen after being stabbed in the guts was quite haunting, Lena could even hear Eve’s choked and soundless cry of help instead of the actor’s.

 

She noticed the way the actor was gripping the stab wound as it oozed blood out like a stream. Lena imagined what she would do if she was in his place. No, in _Eve’s_ place.

 

Lena repositioned herself to lie down on the couch and counted in her head. _One. Two. Three._

 

She took in a deep breath and held it, while gripping at her own neck, trying to act like someone was strangling her. Her own survival instinct went against her and forced her to let go but Lena stubbornly held onto it. Her thumbs dug painfully into her skin, cutting and tightening her breathing tube.

 

Lena opened her mouth widely, feeling like she needed air, but she had to fight against her nature and let go of the chokehold, raising her hands up and started doing Eve’s message.

 

She swallowed to stop herself from sucking air in, her lungs were so full and it started aching from the inside. Lena kept doing the message until she had to roll over and fell off the couch.

 

Lena stayed down on the ground, panting like she had just come out of the water after drowning. She realized one thing: Eve must have been in the worst place possible when she was dying. The fear, the anger, the hopelessness.

 

Lena didn’t go through that, but she noticed that even when her life was threatened, she could only concentrate in holding the breath back, not clinging onto life because she knew she wouldn’t die.

 

Eve knew she would die, so she didn’t try to signal Lena something that could prolong her life. Then the sign.

 

Lena scrunched her face, flipping over on the floor and stared at the ceiling as her lungs regained its function. Eve had been strangled by that very same killer, Lena assumed, and she must have had a way to inform others just in case she couldn’t make it. Lena had read the report after Schott and Olsen did a round at CatCo to know about Eve. Eve was a hard-working secretary, one of the few ones managed to work for Cat over six months. A person like that would always have a backup plan.

 

The sign was her backup plan. It wasn’t random or irrational. Eve meant to say something. About the killer, Lena hoped. Eve wanted someone to understand.

 

So the letter wasn’t empty.

 

She popped up from the ground and went to her study and fetched out the laptop. With a quick search of Eve’s name, Lena was opened to the access of a lot of links about her work at CatCo, until the recent news about Cat’s death. Lena patiently went through every page and read everything. Her fingers came to a halt when she caught an event at a charity center. There was a video about Cat giving a speech with Eve standing right behind her.

 

The video wasn’t giving anything interesting at first, then at the last minute, a child came up and start giving hand gestures. She was deaf and she was signing at Cat, who was smiling down at her, nodding. Lena doubted Cat understood any of the signs.

 

Suddenly, Eve came up and took in what Cat said to _sign_ back at the child. Eve could communicate without words.

 

“Holy shit!” Lena gasped with a smile. It was sign language! Of course, how could Lena not see that right away?

 

She took a deep breath and began to type _sign language hand and wrist_ and then felt incredibly stupid for starting out so amateur like that. There were over seventy million results, when Lena could just simply ask someone who knew sign language. It should better be down in the morning, but she had a whole night to herself. She needed to know now!

 

So Lena knitted her fingers together and started brainstorming.

 

Eve was dying, so she had to pick out the most important clue about the killer. Hair, eyes, tattoos, scars, voice… What would Eve pick?

 

The fear in Eve’s eyes was still visible to Lena. Eve was afraid of death, of course.

 

Lena began to click through the search results and found that before Eve coming to work for CatCo, she had been working as a volunteer at charity organizations. It said a lot about her personality. Eve must be selfless and kind and brave.

 

Bravery didn’t contribute much in her final moment.

 

 _Kindness? Selfless?_ Lena hummed in thinking and sat straighter when the answer was written in front of her face.

 

Eve hadn’t been feared for herself, she had been afraid for Lena’s life. She would want to inform Lena something that she could see from afar. Not scars, not eyes, not tattoos. It had to be hair color or clothes. Lena opened more tabs and searched for signs to describe hair colors or just colors, but nothing matched.

 

She sighed and craned her neck left and right. It must be the clothes or even body shapes.

 

Lena closed her eyes and pretended that she was standing in the hospital when nothing had happened yet. If she wanted to kill someone in a hospital with considerable layers of protection, she might go for poison. But that wouldn’t work so quickly, and the killer did the job pretty fast. A skillful one.

 

That explained the bold multi homicides. They were arrogant, in Lena’s opinion, but they also knew they would get away with it.

 

Back to the hospital, Lena assumed that the killer could not wear normal clothes on that floor. They might dress like an officer, or had a fake police badge, it would justify them bringing the murder weapon, which could be a very sharp sword - that sounded ridiculous but with such heavy damages on a person, the killer would be insane to approach and slaughter that many people at close range. Everyone seemed to dismiss the knife possibility but Lena held onto it. She needed to count all of the possibilities, including dealing with an audacious and masterful assassin who did exactly what nobody thought of.

 

Someone only Lena noticed.

 

A sensational wave of adrenaline ran in Lena’s veins. The killer on the other end, Lena on this end. She would catch them.

 

They would fake to be someone with allowed access. Family?

 

_What if they pretended to be Eve’s family?_

 

Lena quickly scratched that thought because Eve had no family, according to the report about her. _Friends?_ It couldn’t be because they had made it clear that no one but the people from the department

 

Lena searched for the signs of _police_ , _policeman_ , _policewoman_ to have a better glimpse of the murderer but nothing matched what Eve did. So they weren’t a police officer.

 

_How about a nurse?_

 

Lena searched for the sign and gripped the laptop when she saw the demonstrator tapped his two fingers on the wrist. It looked very similar to what Eve had done. It must be a related job.

 

_Doctor._

 

Her eyes bored straight at the screen as the demonstrator bent a hand backward, the other hand poking the fingers against the other’s wrist.

 

_There you are…_

 

Throwing the laptop aside, it landed on the desk with a thud, Lena reached for her cellphone and started typing J’onn’s numbers and then stopped. She had done a lot to piss Beckett off, and this information only she knew. If she told J’onn, he would have to tell Beckett, she knew him too well.

 

Her thoughts circled shortly back to the friendly doctor on the balcony. Lena didn’t know her name yet. She left right before Lena, perhaps she had seen something unusual. Perhaps she _was_ the last person at the scene before things went to shit.

 

Lena needed to find that doctor, the bad thing was that she didn’t have the access to that kind of information.

 

But she knew who could.

  
  


___

  
  
  


Kara gradually tapped her index fingers on the row of gums on the shelf, looking left and right for the right kind of flavor. _Strawberry Kiss_ , she chanted in her head over and over and was disappointed that she couldn’t see that name anywhere. She stepped back and cross her arms, a frown seated between her eyes.

 

She really wanted to taste that flavor again. It was strange that the gums from the woman at the hospital made her feel so much better while chewing it. The sweet and rich scent didn’t just stay in her mouth, it lingered in her nostrils, in her brain and struck down to her groin.

 

Kara used to be turned on by a lot of things, never food, never something so random. It could be explained that she hadn’t gotten herself off for a while, but that had never been a problem to her. Not that being horny was ever be a problem.

 

The woman at the hospital wasn’t attractive, on a superficial level but she had a pretty smile. That wasn’t what made Kara remember her, the contradictions screaming out of her did. She had her hair down - black hair waving softly down her shoulders - and basic red lipstick. Kara always liked women in lipstick and the lazy look from the ones who let their hair free without the actual mean to make it look good. The woman didn’t fix her hair a lot, letting it flow in the night wind. That image made Kara smile, and she felt a lot less bored before doing her job.

 

Another contradiction from the woman was how she had to leave the public area to do something non-harmful to others. Kara never smoked so she didn’t understand, yet she desired to know a bit more about such conflicts radiating so much from their short conversation.

 

Knowing something about the woman would be great. Kara never intentionally paid too much attention to anyone outside of her job, and standing in the balcony was an improvised step that Kara had taken just because she felt so bored.

 

Talking to a random person felt fine to her.

 

As she was getting lost in the train of thoughts, someone approached her. Kara was aware of it but she kept the daydream face, all of her senses alerted.

 

“Do you need any help?” asked the stranger, their voice was chirpy and clear. As predicted, when Kara turned around, she faced a young woman. She smiled at Kara, acting friendly. Kara knew a responding smile would make her seem approachable to strangers, so she stretched her lips into a practiced grin. “I’ve seen you standing here for about ten minutes.”

 

“Um, yes,” Kara adding a hum of consideration. Appearing to be thinking would prolong a conversation - not that she felt like she needed to talk, but it was because she needed to be like one of them, “I’m looking for the strawberry flavor gums. Have you seen it?” She might have used the British accent a bit, just to create a thicker exterior to the stranger. Kara was a good learner.

 

The woman’s eyes widened, genuinely surprised by the accent - Kara found it ridiculous - and claimed, “You’re not from here. Okay, I’ll help you.” She began to walk along the shelf and returned with an apologetic look, “I’m afraid they’re out of that. Strawberry flavor gums are quite loved around here. I bought a bunch myself, too.”

 

The sneak of information peaked Kara’s interest. She bit her lips as her brain considered whether or not she could make it in time to come home and watch the next episode of Forever. Kara shrugged mentally, tapping her fingers on the lemon flavored gums stack and kept the friendly smile on her face. “I would love to have some of your strawberry flavored gums. Can we make a deal?”

 

The woman’s eyes grew larger again, a faint brush blew on her cheeks. She scratched her neck, eyes adverting around. “That’s… it can be arranged, if you’re fine with it.”

 

Kara let her smile spread wider. “Of course,” she muttered with confidence.

 

The ride to the woman’s apartment was short. She introduced her name somewhere along the way but Kara didn’t really listen. Her eyes caught the sight of the city, the lights, and the houses. Kara enjoyed starring out of the window on a vehicle, loving the way it gave her a false sense of movements. She was sitting in a motionless manner as the world passed by, but it was her who moved. She adored the contradiction in everything.

 

The mind track circled once again back to the woman in the hospital. It tended to do that a lot these days.

 

Kara followed the woman up to the door, waiting at the hall. The look from the woman told Kara that she expected Kara to walk in. If walking in was something others do, Kara decided to try it out. The taste of strawberry suddenly returned to the back of her tongue as soon as she stepped in.

 

The first thing she noticed was the low ceiling because her eyes went up first. Kara found a stain in the corner. Then she dropped her eyes at the walls and stopped at the shoe rack. This woman had a lot of heels.

 

Kara also liked heels, though she normally enjoyed looking at rather than actually wearing them. Boots were more of her choice.

 

The woman from the hospital didn’t wear heels but she would look good in them. A bit taller for Kara to catch her eyes easily.

 

“Do you want a drink?” asked the other woman. Kara whipper her head to a side and found the stranger standing by the fridge. She was looking at Kara with a thin smile.

 

“No, thank you,” Kara replied, turning to the flower vase on the table. Roses. She didn’t fancy flowers but roses were an exception.

 

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t drink either.” The woman closed the fridge. “How would you like to start?”

 

Kara spun around and added a smile to her lips. “Where do you keep the gums?”

 

“Over there,” the woman pointed at an upper counter in the kitchen. Kara went straight there and took out the package. “You really like them, don’t you?”

 

Kara didn’t answer, unwrapping a piece and pushed it into her mouth. The familiar sweet - and somewhat sour - exploded in her mouth, warming up her senses, and stirring up her muscles. She closed her eyes as she chewed slowly.

 

She could picture the woman from the hospital standing in front of her, smiling while gnawing on the piece of gum inside her mouth.

 

“Is that what you’re looking for?” The voice of the stranger got blurred out in the back of Kara’s mind as she continued seeing the woman in her mind.

 

The footsteps were approaching her from behind, Kara quickly turned around, still had her eyes close. “You should take one,” she said with a grin.

 

“R-right now?” stuttered the stranger, “Okay.”

 

Kara patiently waited until she heard the clicking wet sound. “Are you chewing it now?”

 

“Yes. Why?”

 

Her hands reached forward and found the woman’s jaws slowly rising and descending to the motions. With her eyes closed, Kara felt like she was already touching the woman in the hospital, right there on the balcony. She pushed herself forward and lapped her lips against the imaginary mouth, swallowing the surprised hum among the tongues, the dampened and deformed gums, and the brush of skins.

 

Kara knew what she wanted to do. Her hands and her hips yearned to the heat in front of her, as her mind started applying the moment’s sensations into the picture she had in mind.

 

In her mind, the _right_ woman with two different eye colors was whimpering. The sweet lick of Kara’s tongue on the inside of her mouth would make that moan louder. Pleased, Kara pressed further, darting her tongue across the gum to steal it. She sensed her jacket being tugged forward. Kara grinned into the kiss and dragged her fingers down to lift up the hem of the woman’s sweatshirt.

 

But then she realized the material was not a sweatshirt but something thinner and less fluffy. A shirt. Kara pulled back from the kiss and looked down.

 

The fantasy in her mind vanished and left her with reality. The woman in her arms wasn’t _her_ and Kara had made the mistake of opening her eyes.

 

“Is everything okay, Linda?” asked the _false_ woman, using Kara’s _false_ name.

 

The burning ache of flesh-craving between Kara’s thighs bounded her to continue and satisfy her raw need. She looked up at the woman’s eyes. Both blue. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

 

Wrong woman.

 

“No,” Kara smiled, “but you should close your eyes.”

 

The false woman quickly obeyed, her mouth kept chewing on the gum whose taste Kara had already learned.

 

“I’ve never kissed anyone while chewing gum before.”

 

Kara pulled out another piece of gum from the pack and handed the false woman. She unwrapped it, still with her eyes closed.

 

Then Kara took the pack, walking straight to the door after placing a hundred bucks on the counter.

 

She didn’t bother to close the door to inform the false woman standing with closed eyes like a lamppost in her apartment. Kara got her desired gums, that was all what mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to make a chapter much longer and plot-inclusive from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm not too sure about the plot but I jotted it down and had a fair path for this story.
> 
> And please don't expect a happy ending or a traditional one. I'll go wild on this story, testing out the new genre.
> 
> Updates maybe late.


End file.
